Norse Group company contributes to major Passivhaus project

Goldsmith Street in Norwich, a new-build social housing scheme consisting of 93 units in the form of terraced housing and flats, is one of the largest Passivhaus developments in the country. The quantity surveying for this prestigious project was provided by the specialist Norse Group company, Hamson Barron Smith (HBS).

Working closely with the design team, HBS were extensively involved in the design process, including a number of value engineering exercises pre- and post-tender; one of their key roles was ensuring a robust approach to risk management – an important consideration in such a large development.

The project evolved from a competitive outline design which had to both aspire to winning awards, and offer outstanding value for money.

The HBS project QS team were therefore heavily involved in the design process, reviewing forecast budgets, working with the construction team to monitor costs, and leading a number of pre- and post-tender value engineering exercises to ensure that the project was deliverable and affordable. The challenging design and the approach to risk management succeeded in delivering an award-winning result when Goldsmith Street received an RIBA Stirling Prize.

The RIBA Judging Panel commented, “It is high-quality architecture at its purest, most environmentally friendly and socially conscious form. Behind restrained creamy façades are impeccably detailed, highly sustainable homes – an incredible achievement for a development of this scale. This is proper social housing, over ten years in the making, delivered by an ambitious and thoughtful council. These desirable, spacious, low-energy properties should be the norm for all council housing.”